


Not So Alone

by NeitherNora



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-05
Updated: 2017-07-05
Packaged: 2018-11-23 16:54:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11406597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NeitherNora/pseuds/NeitherNora
Summary: Trapped in the Eternal Stockade, Kravitz discovers some unlikely allies: souls touched by the light of creation.





	Not So Alone

Kravitz hasn't been alone--truly, completely alone--since before he became the Raven Queen's hunter. The stillness of the Eternal Stockade presses down on him, suffocating in its peace.

Thoughts race through his head. Would he be stranded here forever, alone? Was his only way out to submit to the darkness?

No. No, that path won't do. He's spent too many lifetimes dealing in dead to be panicked at it himself. He stands, drawing in a few calming breaths.

And then he hears it. Distant and fleeting, barely audible. The sound of a fight. The quiet murmurs of...

A soul?

He dashes down hallways and glides down stairways. Gradually the sounds of struggle grow clear as he rounds a corner and slips into a courtyard.

The walls of the Eternal Stockade are impregnable, a marvel of divine construction. They have stood for countless millenia, containing souls since the first sin.

They are being consumed. A bloated and horrible mass rises from the endless black sea and reaches for the top of the walls. Like ants building on top of each other, the black sludge builds itself up with arm after arm of vile blackness. The hands strain, yearning for the top of the walls.

And they are being held back. Two radiant souls stand vanguard, and Kravitz knows that they too sought refuge in the unbreakable walls of the Eternal Stockade. But they were pursued.

The glory of these souls astounds him, brings him pause for the first time. One of them is assaulted by a trio of grasping hands, but rushes to meet them a small shape, as a child, slams into the reaching invader and with a flash of light, drives it back. Its partner soul is taller. It's brighter, but radiates less light, hoarding it inside its form.

Kravitz knows that light. How could he not? The light of creation. These souls have been touched by the light of creation!

He leaps forth, billowing up to them and assuming the visage of the Reaper, grim and terrible. His scythe gleams in the gloom, slicing through strand after strand of tar. The souls fall in with him, covering his sides as the sludge begins to creep over the edges of the walls.

"Well, you're a spooky one, huh?" quips the short soul. It's a woman's voice. The silhouette delivers a swift kick, and from this closer perspective Kravitz is able to appreciate her perfect martial form.

He'd grin, if he had lips. "I get that a lot."

The taller soul walks forward and with a swipe of its arm sends a thin strand of light flicking forward. Kravitz sees spines along its length, like tiny thorns. The whip gouges into the blackness, and along with his scythe they manage to carve away vast chunks of the stuff until the encroaching mounds retreat.

Kravitz pauses to catch his breath.

"You are certainly a remarkable pair." He says at length.

They look to each other and the taller one reaches for its partner's hand.

"We are." it says.

He nods. Realizing he hasn't dismissed his visage, he exhales and reassumes his more human appearance.

"I am Kravitz." He says simply.

"I'm Hurley!" Says the smaller soul. "This is Sloane."

He nods and puts a thoughtful hand to his chin. 

"Gosh, wouldn't it be good to have a body?" She asks under her breath.

"Oh! Well, I can make that happen, if you'd like. May I see your hand?"

The short soul extends her hand. When he takes it, he breathes out, knitting new flesh and blood around the glimmering silhouette. She's a halfling, but by the looks of her she could lift three men.

He reconstitutes the other soul as well, revealing a human woman with a long, thick head of sable hair. They examine themselves and each other.

"Well thanks I guess, wasn't really expecting-." starts the halfling, before she's interrupted by a kiss and an embrace from her partner.

It brings a smile to his face.

"So, uh..." she says, pulling away. "What now? Do you know a way out of this place? We've kind of been wandering for a while."

"That's what I was hoping you could help me with."

The human wan speaks for the first time, fingers delicately tracing through the halfling's hair. "Why can we fight back when others can't?"

"You are touched by the light of creation." He puts a thoughtful hand to his chin. "I'm not sure how. But it seems to both attract and protect from this...growth. Again, I don't know that much about how this works. But I think we can channel it to get out of here."

He places his palms together.

"How would you like to help me save the world?"


End file.
